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My wife and I recently took in her father to live with us. Her mother recently passed away and he had a minor stroke only a month after her passing. He is doing well for the most part, however even after doing rehab for his right leg, he continues to have problems walking. With that said, he only sleeps, eats, and watches TV. In addition he is Filipino, hard of hearing, and even though speaks English, still has a problem communicating well. We take him out with us on errands, church, and to eat occasionally, but other than that he is not interested in anything. It's very frustrating as we want to engage with him and/or have him do things, but nothing seems to be of interest. All his life, he did nothing but work all the time and he keeps saying he wants to work. Yet now that he can't take care of himself, there doesn't seem to be any outlet for him other than to watch tv and sit around. I have searched for things to do with elderly men, but so far have not found anything that might help. He is not interested in any hobbies, workshops, or that kind of thing. He seems to like watching sports/news once in a while on tv, but that's it. If anyone has more suggestions for us, would surely welcome accordingly.

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paphello, your father-in-law is probably still in morning over the lost of his wife, and this will take him time to adjust. The love of his life is gone. Plus he had a stroke. So, of course, he has no interest in doing things except watch TV.

One has to remember as a person ages, they don't have the energy that a young person has. I am seeing that happening with myself, and it's not fun.

What you could do is engage him into conversations on how to do things around the house, if he is the handy type. Older persons sometimes like to teach the younger relatives. Ok, I know father-in-law is hard of hearing, that comes with age, but can he write? You can communicate using a chalk or white board. What type of work did he do? Ask him how he got started on his career, etc.
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Spring is here! How about taking him to a little league baseball game? Ditto on a school soccer game. Music is fairly universal. There are announcements all over my area of churches/schools having spring concerts. I took my Mom a few times to the local playground. She loved watching the little ones on the swings and slides. Check your United Way or hospital for events he may appreciate.
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